These sick children thought it was just a simpleSanta Photo

But it turned into somethingmagicalthanks to Photoshop and thisdigital artist

It's Christmas... Silent Night echoes through the shopping centres, there's a Santa Claus on every corner. Celebrations fill the air. It's a time for family, love and joy. At least for many of us... Not so for those unfortunate families who have loved ones living out their days in the confines of a hospital ward.

#sickchildren receive a #magical #santaphoto that frees them from #hospital with @adobephotoshop

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When Hospital is Home

While the outside world sings joyfully, there are many families just struggling to make it through the night, unsure of what the future holds.

It was this understanding that led Photographic Digital Artist, Karen Alsop, to establish The Christmas Wish Project. ﻿﻿After a y﻿﻿ear of bringing joy to families across Australia through The ﻿﻿heART﻿﻿ Project, Karen knew she wanted to do something special for many families struggling through the Christm﻿﻿as Season.

Shane Melaugh

Christmas﻿ is a joyful time, a time I ﻿love to celebrate ﻿with my family, but not everyone has that blessing. I’ve always felt for the children in particular who are unable to leave the hospital during this season because at a time when the world is joyful, ﻿their pain is even more evident﻿. I wanted to give them a gift that brings hope and I wanted to free them, at least in a creative sense, from their IV lines, monitors, from the confines of the hospital ward and the reality of their situation. My main aim was to ﻿rekindle their faith ﻿of what the future holds for each of them.

Karen Alsop - Story Art

BTS Photography by Victoria McKay

A 15 hour daymarathon for this team of angels

Th﻿﻿e ﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿15 hour day﻿﻿﻿ started for ﻿﻿﻿Karen Alsop﻿﻿﻿ and her team of Elves at 8:00am on the 29th of November. The crew, including ﻿﻿﻿the real﻿﻿﻿ Santa Claus ﻿﻿arrived﻿﻿ at﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿ Monash Children's Hospital ﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿and set to work constructing the Story Art studio within the confines of an empty room in Ward 41.

Once the studio set was ready, each family was invited one by one to meet Santa, and have a photo with him in the Christmas studio.

What they didn't know was that this was more than a standard shopping centre Santa set up. The magic was only just beginning...

The Photoshop MagicHappens

After the ﻿﻿30 photos ﻿﻿were captured the team elves set up their production line, working fast to create individual ﻿﻿﻿artworks for the children.

Karen worked her magic, compositing each child into a beautiful handcrafted scene (made up of her own photography and hours of preparation work in Photoshop). As soon as she completed a piece, it was sent through to print. The assembly line concluded with each artwork being cut, framed, labeled and wrapped, ready for the special delivery that night.

Unable to leave his bed Arthur'smagic takes place in his hospital room

Some of the children, like Arthur below, were unable to leave their rooms for the photoshoot, so Karen photographed them in their beds with a special visit from Santa. She later transported these children to a magical land, where they could imagine they were free of their IV Lines, monitors and beds.

When everything was ready, Karen, Santa and her team began their special deliveries throughout the ward. When the children and their families unwrapped their unique artworks, they were completely astounded by the surreal results.

13 year old Miah's imagination ran wildVicky posed as a Reindeer

Newborn Sarvi entered dreamlandwith Santa in his cosy living room

17 year old Brittany although unable to move her arms or legswent on a wild adventure ride with Santa on the reins

The Results

E﻿﻿very ﻿﻿family﻿﻿, every﻿ life ﻿was touched by this team of ﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿a﻿ngels﻿﻿﻿﻿. To escape from the confines of the ﻿hospita﻿﻿l﻿ for even a moment, is a distant dream for some of these very sick children. Now, thanks to Karen Alsop's photography and ﻿photoshop mastery﻿, each child has a picture of happiness, a place they ca﻿﻿n escape t﻿﻿o﻿﻿﻿.

During this Christmas season, there is a place they can visit, if only in their imagination for a moment, where there is no pain and no sickness.

A happy place. A place of joy.

Shane Melaugh

My image transported me to a place far away from all the worries of everyday, it portrays a very special memory and captures a good moment while in hospital, something to remember, rather than something I wish to forget.

Brittany - 17

Would you like to learn how to create imagery like this?

Visit Karen's Education site to watch the Video Tutorial on HOW this was accomplished